HitsuHina Beginnings: sequel
by Kittyliz701
Summary: sequel to 'Hitsuhina Beginnings'; Toshiro and Momo now have two children at the ages of eight and four, Just an ordinary day of family life  sequel done by request


Hitsuhina: Beginnings – Sequel

Sitting in his office he rubbed his face and blinked his aquamarine eyes. It had been a long day of paperwork. Over the recent years, he had started to feel dread creep into his system when he knew there was paperwork to do. Sighing he swirled around in his seat, hands locked behind his head, as he looked out the tall window behind his organised desk.

It was a beautiful sunny day, birds singing, blossom starting to come into full bloom. A lot like it was four years ago on May 17th. That day was so chaotic. So many things had happened at once. But it had all started in the late morning.

He had learned from the last time not to leave his pregnant wife's side, even if he felt the increasing urge to collapse every drawling second of every minute. This time had been worse than the first. Momo had been very ill at the beginning of the pregnancy. With Shiro she had had morning sickness, but it wasn't as bad. Unohana had put it down to the baby having a strong reiatsu that was over powering Momo's in her ill state. Toshiro had never been so worried for her before. He had also had to look after Shiro on his own, and handling an energetic four year old boy on his own was a lot harder than he had anticipated. Matsumoto had kindly helped out with babysitting, and even bought round her own five year old son, every couple of nights or when he had meetings. But it was the actual birth that had been the most chaotic. Not being there the last time, he hadn't realised how much pain she had been in, and how ferociously she could grip his hand. Surprisingly, the actual birth went incredibly well; better than the last one in fact. The time had been 12:46pm and the little baby girl had been born at five pounds and nine ounces, smaller than Shiro had been. By the end, both of them had been smiling.

"_Toshiro,"_ Momo had whispered _"You can name her."_

Toshiro had asked her several times over if it was alright, but she simply laughed and told him it was perfectly fine as she had named their first born. He looked at his daughter's beautiful eyes; the ones that took after his, but they were ever-so-slightly more blue, and bigger. He took Momo's hand as she looked up to him.

"_Haruki, [meaning sunshine]"_ It was then Momo realised. It had been raining for weeks. Day after day, the rain had come, whether it was just a light mist or a torrential pour down. But that day the clouds had parted early in the morning. The sun was shining and the blossom had finally had a chance to sprout. The name was perfect. Hitsugaya Haruki.

Toshiro smiled back at the memory of his daughter's birth. There was nothing more precious in the world than his family. He had to admit, it took him a while to get used to. For instance, to this day he never understood why bedtime was such a difficult concept to understand; get into bed, close your eyes, and go to sleep. Why did it have to take him to physically cocoon them in their beds for them to stay? Or bath time. That was the worst time for him in the whole history of childhood. His children seriously needed to understand to concept of 'personal hygiene' and 'cleanliness' before they saw his bankai at a very early age. His temper always ran short when they would cling to the bed in refusal before he had to pick them up and take them to the bathroom where Momo would wait patiently for their arrival. However this system worked surprisingly well. After they got into the bathtub, it was fine. It was just the process it took that wore him out. They were also learning more and more about their children's likes and dislikes; for example, Haruki was afraid of the dark and had nightmares if there was no light, so to solve that, they had both children sleep together in the same room with a single light. And Shiro got sick if he had spicy foods (particularly wasabi), so Momo prevented using hot spices in her cooking for him. But Haruki loved to play outside, so they had a few squad members help them make a swing for her. And Shiro enjoyed cooking and helping people, so Momo allowed him to help as much as he could at meal times, and even let him make his own cakes (with permitted ingredients of course).

It was tough at times, but it was so worth it for them. Nothing made Toshiro happier than when he heard his children's laughter, or saw his wife's smiling face. Everything was perfect. He smiled to himself with his eyes closed, and stood up from his seat. His work was over, so he was allowed to go home. Moving around the desk, he walked over to the door. He stepped out the office and slid the door shut, but stopped when he turned around to see a young nine year old boy with strawberry blonde hair that flecked over his head and pale, misty grey eyes. He wore a simple navy blue kimono that stopped at his shoulders and knees. With no shoes on, he stepped back and bowed.

"Ano, Hitsugaya-taicho, Have you seen my mother?" they boy asked. Matsumoto (the mother in question) had told him to come here today, and asked Toshiro to keep an eye out for him. He could feel her reiatsu near-by, so he would go find her.

"Don't worry, I'll go find her. Just take a seat in here for a moment and she'll be there soon. Just don't touch anything, alright?" Toshiro slid the door back open as the boy smiled widely and stepped into his office and jump-sat on the couch.

Toshiro walked off and down the hallway towards his irresponsible vice-captain. He turned the corner and saw her enter one of the other rooms. He followed her silently and peered into the door quickly, irritated, and said sternly

"Matsumoto."

The voluptuous women yelped and span round "Taicho, you scared me!" she flicked back her now shoulder-length hair and placed a hand on her hip.

He scowled "Kitsune is in my office waiting for you. Go now before he makes a mess. Being your son I just have feeling he will…"

"Mou taicho, that's so mean of you. Little Kitsune-chan wouldn't do such a thing," she whimpered as she left them room to go to her son. He sighed. She was such trouble sometimes, if only Ichimaru could tame his son as he had some-what tamed his wife as well. He seemed to always conveniently 'be busy' when Matsumoto needed him most. Not kidding anyone, Ichimaru was a good father, but only when it suited him best.

Complaining in his head to himself, Toshiro continued to make his journey home. It wasn't too far at all, but he made the effort to walk faster as he was ten minutes late, and he had promised his children to be home by five. He continued to walk as the sun shined brighter.

* * *

><p>"Mou…" the young girl huffed. Her red cheeks squashed against her closed palms as she rested her arms on the window sill. Her breaths clouded the smudged glass as her huffy breaths puffed out one by one.<p>

"Haruki-chan, what's wrong?" Momo asked her daughter as she crouched next to her, stroking her shoulder length, hazelnut brown hair.

"Otto-san isn't home yet. And he promised!" Haruki replied as she grumpily span round with a pout on her face. It was so adorable even thought she was trying to be angry.

"He's only a little late, he won't be long. Besides, if he's late he won't get any of the cake we made will he?" Momo smiled.

"Oka-san, the cake is done, what should I do?" Shiro asked as he silently stepped out the oyatsu scented kitchen with a hint of vanilla. His dark chocolate brown eyes looked at her quizzically. His spikey white hair then rustled slightly from the late spring breeze drifting through the open window near-by. Haruki's turquoise eyes widened as she smiled gleefully.

"Ah! Shiro-nii let me see! Let me see!" She jumped up and clumsily ran over to her older brother. She reached for his hand as he took it. They walked in together; Haruki stood on a stool and looked to the oyatsu cake. It looked great, and smelt amazing, maybe too much sugar, but none the less it was amazing.

Momo followed her two children. Shiro explained to Haruki how he had made it. Momo stood in the doorway and grinned. She observed Shiro's smiling face and his slight dimples, his hands as they gestured to different ingredients, his laughter as Haruki blew into the flour and it puffed in his face. She turned to her daughter. Again, she contemplated her wide grinned face as she laughed, the way her short hair fell over her face as she moved, how she would always call Shiro nothing other than 'Shiro-nii'. She loved everything about her children. Nothing would change that.

Momo tilted her head and sneakily left the doorway giggling at their fun. She closed her eyes and stretched out her arms in front of herself. Mixing cake for twenty minutes or so did make your arms stiff. Before she lowered her outstretched arms, she was encased in another pair from behind. She let out a little squeak, before he rested his chin on her shoulder. Momo looked and smiled.

"Sorry I'm late," Toshiro apologised. Momo turned in his arms and kissed his nose. At this he frowned and wrinkled his nose slightly at the ticklish action.

Momo giggled "Don't worry, besides, it's not me you need to apologise to," Momo gestured her head to the kitchen "Haruki's been huffing at the window for the past ten minutes."

Toshiro winced "Really? I thought she stopped doing that a while ago," He let out a single light laugh.

"We made a cake today, oyatsu, and she wanted you to see it," Momo answered as she led him to the kitchen by his hand, encased in hers, but stopped just outside and whispered "They're both in there."

He nodded with a small smile and peered into the messy kitchen. There was flour on the cupboards and little bit of butter on the floor with a sprinkling of sugar. He knew he would have to clean up the sticky mess. But standing in the middle of the mishmash was Shiro and Haruki with flour on their faces.

They both hadn't seen him so he snuck in quietly and looked towards them. Suddenly they turned around to see him. Their faces lit up like Christmas trees with the widest grins and the happiest eyes. Toshiro smiled as they ran up to him and got to his knees so he could hug them tightly.

"Otto-san, Yamete Kudasai!" Haruki giggled as he tickled her. Shiro laughed at her, but was then attacked as well. Both children erupted with laughter. It was the happiest sound ever to reach a person's ear.

Momo, who was quietly sitting in the living room, heard the laughter from all three of her family members and so followed the happy sound to the kitchen. She peaked into the room before fully entering with a giggle. Toshiro was currently on top of both children and tickling them; the obvious cause of the laughter. Momo grinned. Toshiro had changed so much since they got together. People had often told him that his time with her had rubbed off on him. He was kinder, gentler, and better around people. Of course he denied any of it, but it was true. Slowly his scowl had vanished and had been replaced by a look of content. The only time it ever returned was when he was irritated. But again, he had found it easier to control his temper over the recent years; Momo understood too that having children really did introduce the extremes of patience. But most of all, he had learnt to smile more, and his smile was wonderful; never was it artificial or forced, but natural and self-occurring.

Momo had changed too. She was so much more confident in herself, and had brought herself to realise that not everyone in the world was good, and cautions were necessary. Her biggest progress was definitely her mental health. Years ago, before the winter war, Aizen had been her focus. In her eyes, everything he did had a good purpose, he was an angel sent to look after her; like a father figure. And when things started to go wrong after the winter war, when Toshiro had stabbed her, and she sometimes doubted herself whether it really was Aizen's fault. She had terrible nightmares, night after night, not knowing what to believe. She never got to sleep, and so when she had to do her rounds in the soul society, she nearly fainted. One day she had, and on that day Toshiro had been doing his rounds as well. He found her dipping in and out of consciousness, crying at the same time. She saw his face and burst into tears. He came to her and held her close to his chest. Momo clenched his haori in fear of sleep. He was so worried for her.

"_Momo, please tell me what's wrong,"_ he had whispered to her; so gently, full of care, a side of him she had never seen.

She had tried so hard to say, but nothing but stuttered words and tears came out. She was frozen, she couldn't move. So Toshiro had picked her up and taken her to his quarters to rest. The room was warm and had his scent on the bed sheets. He had left her there rest, assuring her that he was only next door if she needed him, and to call if she did. Everything was so organised and clean; the lamp on the side neatly in the corner of the bed-side table, next to it, a simple black clock. But something else was there, a little white thread bracelet with three beads on it on the colour order of orange, pink, orange. Momo knew what it was. It was the gift she had given to him when she left to go to the Soul Academy to become a soul reaper.

"_Here Shiro-chan, I made it for you! It's to remind you that I'm not gonna be gone forever, so don't get too lonely, ne?" She smiled._

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever, just go already," the young white-haired boy replied without making eye-contact with her._

She never thought he would keep it that long. That was the first time she realised what she meant to him. She then fell asleep, only to wake up screaming Toshiro's name. Toshiro meanwhile had been sitting in his office doing work when he heard her.

"_Toshiro! Toshiro, please! Help me, Toshiro!" _she screamed through the corridor. He bolted up straight from his desk, ignoring the alarming look from Rangiku. He sprinted to the room to find her in a cold sweat. He walked up to her and sat on the edge of the bed. She then grabbed him and held him so tightly; assuring herself that he really was there.

This was a routine that reoccurred for months, but slowly, so slowly, the nightmares began to stop, all because Toshiro stayed with her every night; every time she woke up screaming, he was there. Every time she couldn't sleep, he would talk to her. He cured her of her mental illness that she never thought was curable. All in all, they completed each other. They made each other happy and bought out the best in one another.

Momo looked at her family and beamed. They all calmed down and Shiro gave her an apologetic grin. She laughed and came in next to them.

"I see the flour monster is at large again," with her thumb she smeared off some of the flour on Haruki's cheek.

"Flour monster?" Haruki replied, never hearing of this strange beast before. She tilted her head slightly as her mother smiled and wiggled her fingers at her.

"Oh yes, it is said that he is most powerful when flour is around, and if he sees it… he attacks!" she commentated, trailing off, leaving Haruki in desperate suspense.

Taking a sneaky look at Toshiro who was creeping up behind his daughter with flour on both cheeks, she suppressed a laugh at how clumsy he was. Shiro too covered his mouth with a single hand as his father pounced, spinning his daughter upside down by the waist,

Haruki started to squeak and giggle as Shiro tickled her in her venerable position. Clawing at her captors arms, she pleaded between squeaks "O-onegai!, ya-yamete!"

* * *

><p>The afternoon had now passed. After Haruki had finally been released, Toshiro had suddenly comes to terms with the huge mess covering their entire kitchen. Suddenly the flour monster wasn't so happy any more. He got the two dirty children to take a bath whilst he cleaned the kitchen. He admitted it definitely wasn't what he wanted to be doing after a full day of work, but if he wouldn't do it, no one would.<p>

With a damp sponge in hand, he wiped around the cupboards and sink where the white powdered ingredient was. He then found the mop somewhere at the back of the cupboard under the stairs and cleaned the floor until it glistened with a moist gleam in the setting sun shining through the window. He looked at the time. He had started cleaning what felt like hours ago, but it was only seven o'clock; the children's bedtime. He sighed. Bedtime was so difficult.

Slowly he rose to his feet from his sitting position at the table, and put his cleaning supplies back to where they came from. As he closed the cupboards, he caught a glimpse of two small bodies curled up on the couch in the next room. Toshiro leaned back to see the full image of Shiro and Haruki snuggled together, sleeping; exhausted from today's excitement. Toshiro smiled to himself. Perhaps tonight's bedtime wouldn't be so difficult after all.

He proceeded to the next room where Momo was, standing and watching their children sleep. He looked at her content face. He honestly had never seen her happier before they had started a family. She had this new glow to her and new maturity that she required to raise her children. It always made him so happy to know that he was the one to give her that beautiful glow and happiness she had attained and always wanted.

Momo looked to Toshiro and took his hand in hers "We should get them into their beds before they fall into a deep sleep."

Toshiro made a small smile back "Ah,"

With that the couple slowly walked over to the couch and nudged each child. Very slowly they blinked their eyes open, which they began to rub the sleep out of, and sat up.

"Come on, let's get you into bed," Toshiro said quietly as he picked up Haruki under the arms. Momo took Shiro by the hand and led him to his and Haruki's room.

"But Otto-san, I'm not tired yet," Shiro said whilst yawning at the same time.

"Oh I think you are," He replied back with a quiet laugh.

Haruki meanwhile had already fallen asleep again on her father's shoulder with her right thumb in her mouth. Toshiro slowly lay her down in her bed and pulled the bed sheets over her sleeping body. He brushed the little hair over her face out of her eyes, and placed a small kiss on her forehead. At the small touch of affection, Haruki moved in her sleep to roll over onto her side and yet again sleep soundlessly.

Momo, on the near side of the room, helped Shiro into his bed as well. He rubbed one of his chocolate brown eyes with the palm of his hand, and breathed out deeply. Momo smiled and caressed his cheek with her thumb. Shiro smiled as he said sleepily

"Did you like our cake?"

Momo smiled widely "It was perfect."

"So can I make it again?" Shiro asked eagerly.

"Of course."

"And I'll try not to make a mess next time Otto-san," Shiro said with a small hint of guilt in his voice "Sorry."

Toshiro turned around and crouched by his bed "It's alright. I still help you clean up next time," he smiled softly.

Shiro smiled as his eyes started to slowly close in his sleepy daze. Momo leant down and kissed his forehead, and brushed his fringe out of his face with her thumb. She and Toshiro then stood up and walked to the doorway. Toshiro looked back as he clicked the light off. Shiro rolled over to get comfy and let out a deep sigh. Toshiro smiled a soft, small smile, closed the door slowly and whispered

"Oyasumi."


End file.
